It’s all relative is the main key.

If it’s a hobby, you can afford it, it’s therapeutic....etc.

But to not lose money?
That is very difficult to do.

I do all my own work (one reason I stick with OBs) and have a repair biz so get supplies at cost.
If I call my labor therapy......., I can come close.

But Ill never forget what my old man told me 50 yrs ago.
We/he had s ‘50’s era, 39’ wood cabin cruiser for sale.
Spent yrs setting checks on fire keeping it running before giving up.

He listed for sale cheap.
I was a teenager w/no money but was in love w/that boat.
Got down to a couple grand and I thought he should give it to me.

When I pitched that idea to him he said, “son, if I gave you that boat for free, you still couldn’t afford it.”
And he was right.

I guess when you think about it almost everyone on here has completed some type of update or restoration on their boats, unless they bought them new, even then they are usually changing something. It is the nature of most hobbies. I am sure everyone here said, "I will buy it and just drive it for a while" then after the first outing the itch began. I don't think I had mine in the water for 1 hour before repainting, buffing, re-doing drives etc. It is kind of a Love/Hate relationship, so as long as love is there you don't mind spending the money. We all hate it when we loose though.

I do all my own work outside of machining and I cant imagine taking on this boat, but it would be cool to see it put back together
1. trailer 10k
2. engines 35-40k
3. exhaust 15-20k
4. boxes 8k
5. drives 20-24k
6. dash 5k
7. wiring ??
8. engine mounts ?
9. unknown 20k..........lol

I've started two of these projects in the past. I kick myself for ever starting either, and will always try and talk someone out of taking that path. The time that it takes to do any of this is enough that someone should really stop and think, do I want to spend the next 4 years working on this? I could spend 8 hours on projects on either of the Scarabs I was working on, and at the end of the day think," is that all I've accomplished today?" Like Intercepter, when I was working on the 43 Scarab, and the rot would not stop popping up, I thought, how much money do I have tied up in this POS. I went home and totaled up all the parts I had. $200k in parts, plus it would still need paint, a better trailer. Add another $40k on top of that. All for a boat that would at best be worth $75k. That was the last weekend I worked on the boat. Next weekend I looked at an Active Thunder, two weekends later I owned it.

It took almost 3 years to sell all of those parts, and I probably lost money on most of them. After a year of the AT I wanted more speed, thought about new drives and whipples for it, but that hull doesn't like modified power, so sold it and finally ended up with my 39 Cigarette. I'm exhausted just thinking back on those 3-4 years.

Anyone thinking they are going to save money with buying a boat like the one F2 posted is nuts. You are better off working a little more at your job if that is what you need to do, spending 1000's of hours trying to finish one of these boats is foolish. Out of all the project posts on here, only a few actually get finished. Hats off to those few!

we don't agree much, but spot on... people don't ever realize what goes into a restoration... adds up fast!! I literally looked at a 56 Cadillac today to maybe buy and get going, car has 22,000 miles has not ran since 1985, absolutely beautiful all original car.. I figure quick get going and flip, then think about fact engine may need redone, trans? Brakes? Tires? Exhaust? Adds up to be a eh deal. Gotta look at the big picture...

now if you have else's money and time? Go for it!

spot on. I have an affordable egg beater fishing boat on the lift for day to day boating, and a project boat in the garage for the “hobby”. I learned long ago that when you separate the project from being needed on the weekend it becomes fun again. If you start counting dollars you picked the wrong hobby!

Yep, projects can be a lot of fun in that scenario, plus you’ll learn a lot.

You have to use Marine Math, an offshoot of Man Math.
If applied correctly it works bigly.

Do you mean take your original estimation and then double it? If so, 100% correct.

.... and then you put the boat in the water, crank the engines and start feeding it - and then the cycle starts again.